Erina Matsui

is a Japanese contemporary artist. She is known for her surreal self-portraits, mostly done as oil paintings. Her work has been praised for its jarring visual impact as it defies normal representations of childhood being cute and innocent.

Early life and education Matsui was born in 1984 in Okayama, Japan where she grew up.

She graduated in 2008 with a B.F.A. from Tama Art University in Tokyo, and completed her M.A. in 2010 at the Tokyo University of the Arts. One of the jury members there, Hervé Chandès (who is also the director of the Foundation Cartier in Paris), took note of her paintings and brought her on to be displayed in a group show ("J'en rêve") in summer 2005.

Since then, her paintings have also been purchased by the Pigozzi Collection (New York), the Takahashi Collection (Tokyo), and the Ohara Museum (Okayama). In addition to being shown in exhibits across Japan and Europe, her paintings are popular among private art collectors, such as the French billionaire Francois Pinault and the fashion designer Maurizio Galante.

She is currently based in Tokyo.

Art style Matsui during the inauguration of the exhibit "A Place Where Artists Have the Right to Fail," commemorating the 35th anniversary for Room 13 of the Fundació Joan Miró. Matsui most commonly produces oil painting portraits of herself, distorting her features in surreal ways that end up disturbing or absurd.

Although she began her career through Murakami's Geisei art fair, her paintings are elaborately composed and contain depth that distinguishes her work from the Superflat art style associated with Murakami and Kaikai Kiki artists. Matsui intentionally chose not to join the Kaikai Kiki (Murakami's art production and artist management company), choosing to prioritize art school education instead. Her paintings play upon popular themes of Japanese kawaii culture, as well as incorporating symbols of childhood nostalgia such as toys or lullabies to represent the anxiety of young adults growing up. 2007 My Cosmo, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo Cycle: Kawaii! Japan Today, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain 2010 One-Touch Time Machine!, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo 2012 Sunrise Erina, Ohara Museum of Art, Okayama Wabi Sabi Utopia, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo 2013 Road Sweet Road, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Germany 2015 Manga Mind Serenade – non-stop painting, YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo 2016 Planet of the Faces, Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima